A Survey of Rank, Salary, Promotion, and Tenure Policies in Fifteen Colleges and Universities. A Survey of Current Practices.

Southeast Missouri State Univ., Cape Girardeau.

Questionnaires designed to find out how institutional policies for evaluating special degrees affected institutional practices in determining initial rank, salary level, tenure status, and eligibility for promotion of faculty members were sent to 27 institutions. The special degrees fell in 4 categories: (1) faculty members with a degree in law (J.D. or LL.B.); (2) faculty members who are certified accountants; (3) faculty members who have completed a 2-year Master of Fine Arts Degree; and (4) faculty members who have been awarded an honorary doctorate. The respondents were requested to indicate whether or not these degrees were considered equivalent to a bachelor's, master's, specialist or Ph.D. degree in determining rank, salary, tenure or promotion. Fifteen institutions responded with usable questionnaires. The results indicated that no generalizations could be drawn on the use and application of these particular degrees. The schools participating in the survey and the cumulative results of the questionnaire are included in the appendix. (AF)